Whooo, Needs It. Honest.

We have a large population of gophers and I was starting to have flashbacks of Caddy Shack and Chevy Chase…Yeah, even did the propane thing. Nice explosions but that’s it. ;0) Time for plan E since ABC and D didn’t work.

I got on line and happened on the University of California Davis’ site. They had a plan and dimensions and cut list. (You can always tell when a non-woodworker measures an existing piece and makes a set of plans…). Anyways, the design looked good and needed only a little tweaking to work. Now it’s time to get it into a tree after a coat of paint.

I used a 4’x8’ sheet of exterior siding, some cleats, screws and Tite-Bond III. I used a jig saw to cut the opening as well as the clean-out access/door. There is a partition separating the entrance from the nesting area to keep the eggs/owlets safe. There are a couple of 1/2” holes in the back corners for drainage. The back eave has a 1/2” space across the back for ventilation. That’s a piece of red wood at the opening for a landing/perch for the owls.

Everyone's Projects

Project tags/keywords

11 comments so far

I’m needing help here… Gophers… Owls? Is there a connection? Do the gophers eat owl eggs? (Maybe the two are unrelated, and I’m just doing what I do… Complicating simplicity)

I would think the owls eat the gophers.

Anyhoo… It’s a nice build, and owls are fascinating birds. We have a couple HUGE owls that occasionally make their way into the oak tree in our back yard. They would be intimidating if they weren’t so shy. I’m sure the squirrels find them less shy than I do.

Hi Jack, is this an owl house? At first I thought it was a blind for you to hide in and shoot the buggers with a 22 but I did not see any shooting holesDo you have any solutions for moles? I’ve tried trapping. poison worms, propane and just sitting there with a spade early in the morning. Caught only a few with these methods.

...........................Thanks,Jim

-- Jim Jakosh.....Practical Wood Products...........Learn something new every day!! Variety is the Spice of Life!!

Jim, the best solution I have found for moles is my two cats, they bring their rent payments-dead moles-infor approval on a regular basis. Does not work 100%, but better that anything else I have tried.

Mole/gopher problems? Coffee grounds. It changes the acidity of the earth and doesn’t hurt your grass/lawn. You have to use quite a bit, spreading a thin layer over the areas you do not want them to dig and then water that area so it soaks the soil. Great resources for spent coffee grounds are places like Starbucks or any coffee barista. They usually throw them out at the end of the day so you just go there, ask them for their grounds and be on your way. I’ve never met a barista that was unwilling to give them away.